24 Heures Du LeMons, Final
- Thread starter Rupunzell
- Start date
Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
My resource was...
Texas Bix Bender in his book... "Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On"... a Cowboy's Guide to Life.
Its full of similarly equal words of wisdom...
Texas Bix Bender in his book... "Don't Squat With Yer Spurs On"... a Cowboy's Guide to Life.
Its full of similarly equal words of wisdom...
Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
Enjoyed that clip a lot... thanks! nt
bbb
bbb
moretti124guy
Daily Driver
Some of my pics I took
A lot more pics and videos http://photobucket.com/24hoursoflemonsbuttonwillow
A lot more pics and videos http://photobucket.com/24hoursoflemonsbuttonwillow
rturchan
Baja Bob
Article in Spirit Magazine on LeMons race
I just came back from Dallas on Southwest and the airplane magazine (Spirit) had a great article on the LeMons race series. After reading I sure did have a great appreciation for the hard work by Bernice. Sounds like a lot of fun. Keep up the good work.
here is a link to the article for all to read.
http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/lap_dogs/
Bob
I just came back from Dallas on Southwest and the airplane magazine (Spirit) had a great article on the LeMons race series. After reading I sure did have a great appreciation for the hard work by Bernice. Sounds like a lot of fun. Keep up the good work.
here is a link to the article for all to read.
http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/lap_dogs/
Bob
Black-Tooth
Tony Natoli
Perfect... I bet that story reflects...
... just about all the others too!
Thanks for posting.
... just about all the others too!
Thanks for posting.
Tiny OT data point: I work in a small R&D laboratory for a very large and highly respected German chemical company and for many years the lab staff & management in our facility has been about 70-80% female...and we make some neat stuff. I find it to be more fun than working primarily with guys, though my wife has had to get used to it. My boss is a woman as is her boss...and the chemist that reports to me is a woman and all of them are brilliant. One thing I take as a compliment is that when a group of ladies are talking about whatever ladies talk about when guys aren't around and I walk into the lab, they just keep on. I've also learned alot about shoes. Amusingly enough, they've eared a bit of a nickname at the local quarterly meeting of the professional society to which we belong. They're called The BASF Babes. What's also interesting to me is that they're a multinational group - US, India, China, Romania, Poland, France, etc...and there are only about 25 of us.
Rupunzell
Bernice Loui
Thanks for posting this, it' one of the best write ups on LeMons that I have read and very much what many teams deal with at LeMons.
The $500.00 dollar car is really just the beginning of what any team is going to spend on turning it into a LeMons racer. The real test is how well everyone works as a team and how much one can get done for the $ spent. There was an AUDI A4 ( Timmy's Kids Redux, Audi A4) that showed up earned itself a huge number of penalty laps and not a lot of "love" from the other LeMons folks. The nevish in me smiled when this AUDI broke during this race, then discovering that a good number these "Cheap Heaps" were a LOT faster on track than this AUDI A4 including our X.
In comparasion, The Mr. Bean Mini is another one of my favorite LeMons cars...
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/Spank
Dollars spent on safety is NOT included. This X has a nice fuel cell up front, FIA spec power cut off switch, Sparco race seat solidly mounted to the chasiss (poorly mounted seat is what killed : [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onHjJzDBnOs"]YouTube - giles villeneuve brutal crash[/ame] There is NO excuse to put your driver's lives at any more risk than is necessary), a proper roll cage and our drivers wear a Hann's device with proper helmet, driver suit and shoes. safety is taken very seriously at LeMons.
Near the end of this LeMons the "Big Sausage" Acura which was racing the V8 Volvo for the lead rolled:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApaSPCJFPk4"]YouTube - 24 Hours of Lemons Buttonwillow 2009 Leader of the race rolls his car on the last lap.[/ame]
Stuff like this a part of racing and why safety must be taken very, very seriously.
The team spent hours, upon hours preparing this car and simply did not give up.. all done on a budget. This is why they got the 'Index Of Effluency trophy'
http://jalopnik.com/5338703/and-the-real-buttonwillow-histrionics-winner-is-the-mr-bean-austin-mini
When I had time to wander around the pit area, I watched just how hard their team was working to sort out that Mini right up to and during the race.. Great car, great team.
There were times when I felt like a 'slave driver' after discovering things on the car that was not done that were on the to do list.
I had to get the rest of this team to understand every little detail matters. Even the tiniest item can DNF the car, I spent hours checking nuts, bolts, screws, hoses, wiring, how stuff is routed, how parts are made and etc.. to make sure it's not going to come un-done. Just like the Mr Bean Mini and other teams that do well at LeMons, we completely went over the engine, transaxle and chassis , fixed what ever was required to make sure it's not going to die. Beyond this, there are always problems that come up and fixes must be made to address them.
All this is true for any race car and race team. LeMons has evolved into true FUN racing on a budget that most any group of car folks can do. It everything racing should be and what racing in SCCA is not. Jay Lamm, once writer for Car and Driver got this one on the button. He has created an event that is what motorsports has needed for too long, an event that is much about everyone having FUN while incorporating all the same challenges of any endurance track racing event. It also does a wonderful job of skewering the pretentiousness that is so common in motorsports.
What does it take to be a competitive LeMons car? See my other post on the Eyesore Racing's turbo Miata.
LeMons racing is also about making your car go fast on a tight budget using few aftermarket parts. There are penalties for using purchased go fast parts, but garage brew go fast bits are encouraged.
One more thing.. we need another X or other FIAT to race at LeMons, this X is lonely..
The $500.00 dollar car is really just the beginning of what any team is going to spend on turning it into a LeMons racer. The real test is how well everyone works as a team and how much one can get done for the $ spent. There was an AUDI A4 ( Timmy's Kids Redux, Audi A4) that showed up earned itself a huge number of penalty laps and not a lot of "love" from the other LeMons folks. The nevish in me smiled when this AUDI broke during this race, then discovering that a good number these "Cheap Heaps" were a LOT faster on track than this AUDI A4 including our X.
In comparasion, The Mr. Bean Mini is another one of my favorite LeMons cars...
http://www.hubgarage.com/mygarage/Spank
Dollars spent on safety is NOT included. This X has a nice fuel cell up front, FIA spec power cut off switch, Sparco race seat solidly mounted to the chasiss (poorly mounted seat is what killed : [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onHjJzDBnOs"]YouTube - giles villeneuve brutal crash[/ame] There is NO excuse to put your driver's lives at any more risk than is necessary), a proper roll cage and our drivers wear a Hann's device with proper helmet, driver suit and shoes. safety is taken very seriously at LeMons.
Near the end of this LeMons the "Big Sausage" Acura which was racing the V8 Volvo for the lead rolled:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApaSPCJFPk4"]YouTube - 24 Hours of Lemons Buttonwillow 2009 Leader of the race rolls his car on the last lap.[/ame]
Stuff like this a part of racing and why safety must be taken very, very seriously.
The team spent hours, upon hours preparing this car and simply did not give up.. all done on a budget. This is why they got the 'Index Of Effluency trophy'
http://jalopnik.com/5338703/and-the-real-buttonwillow-histrionics-winner-is-the-mr-bean-austin-mini
When I had time to wander around the pit area, I watched just how hard their team was working to sort out that Mini right up to and during the race.. Great car, great team.
There were times when I felt like a 'slave driver' after discovering things on the car that was not done that were on the to do list.
I had to get the rest of this team to understand every little detail matters. Even the tiniest item can DNF the car, I spent hours checking nuts, bolts, screws, hoses, wiring, how stuff is routed, how parts are made and etc.. to make sure it's not going to come un-done. Just like the Mr Bean Mini and other teams that do well at LeMons, we completely went over the engine, transaxle and chassis , fixed what ever was required to make sure it's not going to die. Beyond this, there are always problems that come up and fixes must be made to address them.
All this is true for any race car and race team. LeMons has evolved into true FUN racing on a budget that most any group of car folks can do. It everything racing should be and what racing in SCCA is not. Jay Lamm, once writer for Car and Driver got this one on the button. He has created an event that is what motorsports has needed for too long, an event that is much about everyone having FUN while incorporating all the same challenges of any endurance track racing event. It also does a wonderful job of skewering the pretentiousness that is so common in motorsports.
What does it take to be a competitive LeMons car? See my other post on the Eyesore Racing's turbo Miata.
LeMons racing is also about making your car go fast on a tight budget using few aftermarket parts. There are penalties for using purchased go fast parts, but garage brew go fast bits are encouraged.
One more thing.. we need another X or other FIAT to race at LeMons, this X is lonely..
Last edited:
Rupunzell
Bernice Loui
This got me wondering.. one of my nieces is a "head honcho" at Genetic, she also rebuilt the engine in her Range Rover which she uses for a volunteer rescue program. My other niece also works in a Bio-tech company in NY, head of marketing and sales.. I'll need to ask them about the BASF babes next time we chat, they might know them.
Women tend to socialize and "bond", then work together to figure out a solution while the guys want to go it alone. There is a really funny solo show, "Defending the Cave Man" which is simply FUN and interesting to watch:
http://www.defendingthecaveman.com/
Speaking of shoes, me really likes shoes designed in Italy, made in Italy or Brazil.. The Italians simply know how to design women's shoes that are beautiful, elegant and comfy, just like their cars and many other things that make life just a bit nicer.
Women tend to socialize and "bond", then work together to figure out a solution while the guys want to go it alone. There is a really funny solo show, "Defending the Cave Man" which is simply FUN and interesting to watch:
http://www.defendingthecaveman.com/
Speaking of shoes, me really likes shoes designed in Italy, made in Italy or Brazil.. The Italians simply know how to design women's shoes that are beautiful, elegant and comfy, just like their cars and many other things that make life just a bit nicer.